Jahn, Lothar
Dreams Of 75 (2cd)
Lothar Jahn's 'February '75' single was released by the German label Sound Records in 1977. It was a very unusual record, somewhere between psychedelic, folk, and krautrock. It was reviewed thus on Discogs: "A mysterious journey through cosmic psych folk kraut, whatever you may call it. Fantastic, from beginning to end. Another kraut on 45 milestone." The newly recorded album, 'Dreams Of 75,' is an extended riff on the original single, taking that smaller vision as a starting point and then launching into a weirder and wilder psychedelic/progressive stereoscopic headspace than was evident (or possible) on the original single. Both the rare single and the new album are included in this very limited 2xCD digipack edition. So, who is Lothar Jahn? He is a singer/songwriter, presenter and multi-instrumentalist who has been active in the German music scene since the early 1970s. Since 2020, Jahn has his own television show, Lothar's Liedertreff. He was in German rock band PTHR, and later, in the folk band Jaw-Bone. His musical spectrum ranges from rock to folk to chanson to historical music performance. He is considered a specialist in the field of medieval music, and has been responsible for the web platform Minnesang.com for many years. And what were Jahn's dreams of '75? "They were wistful dreams of boundless love, community and peace, boundless sex, boundless freedom and a lot of wonderful music. Only the last dream came true without limits -it was the middle of the seventies- a time when everyone longed for complicated song structures, clever lyrics, melodic fantasy and intricate works of art full of emotionality. What better time to grow up than back then, in the middle of works like Oldfield's 'Ommadawn' and Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'? says Jahn. On this record, Jahn plays virtually every instrument known to humanity. Ok, that's not true, but he does play an alphabet of instruments: accordion, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, bodhran, cister, chimes, crwth, dobro, dommel (very small guitar), double speed guitar, double speed harp, dulcimer, e-drum, electric guitar, electric piano, frame drum, fiddle, glockenspiel, grand piano, geyerleier, Hammond organ, harmonica, jukebox, lyre, marimba-phone, mandolin, melodica, Moorish lute, one string lute, percussion, noises and voices, reed organ, sampled bagpipes and bourdons, sampled Mellotron, Spanish guitar, synthesizers, twelve-string guitar, vibraphone, telephone bell, tubular bells, and xylophone. All of these are combined into an odd and highly idiosyncratic mix of Jahn's medieval music interests and his love of the strange, and the psychedelic and progressive. Includes the track 'Merseburger,' recorded with Olaf Casalich, the singer of famed German band Ougenweide. It also comes with an 8-page booklet giving Jahn's thoughts on his life and the dreams which provoked this album. Includes six bonus tracks not on the forthcoming LP version.